off-roading
Prehistoric
and historic context
Prior to European settlement,
the Sierra Nevada Mountains were home to several Native
American groups, including the Nisenan (Southern Maidu),
Washoe, and the Sierra Miwok. The Eldorado National Forest
lies near the intersection of their spheres of influence.
The Rubicon Valley lies on the
dividing line between the Maidu-Nisenan Tribe to the west
and the Washoe Tribe of western Nevada. The Washoe occupied
an area south of Lake Tahoe, ranging from the High Sierra to
the Great Basin. The tribe followed an annual migration
route fishing, hunting, and gathering nuts, berries,
and
seeds in season, venturing almost as far west as Sacramento
on occasion. Archaeological evidence indicates that the
Washoe may have occupied most of the project area before
giving way to later incursions by the Maidu-Nisenan. Both
tribes visited the Rubicon Valley on a regular basis, using
it as a meeting place for trading with each other and as a
summer camp from which they could hunt and fish.
The Maidu-Nisenan Tribe
considered Rubicon Springs its territory, which included the
drainages of the American River from the Sierra Crest to the
Sacramento River. The Maidu-Nisenan also occupied the
American River drainage of the Sierra Foothills. This tribe
lived below the 4,000-foot elevation in dome-shaped houses,
usually located on ridges or larger flat areas near water.
The Maidu-Nisenan territory was crossed with trails,
allowing for easy access and trade with other areas and
groups. Many of these historic trails are still used today.
On January 24, 1848, gold was
discovered at Sutter’s Mill along the South Fork of the
American River,
which
significantly changed the culture of the area. Seemingly
overnight, mass immigration occurred, and communities such
as Coloma, Growlersburg (Georgetown), and Old Dry Diggins
(Placerville) were born in the foothills. Some of these
early trappers, explorers, and survey parties traveling the
Georgetown-Lake Bigler Indian trail discovered Rubicon
Springs in the 1850s, and the first log bridge was
constructed over the Rubicon River in 1859.
In 1860, General William Phipps
staked out a 160-acre homestead on Sugar Pine Point. He was
one of the first known permanent residents of Lake Tahoe.
While a logging camp at Sugar Pine Point explains the lack
of sugar pines in the area, Phipps protected his homestead
from the saw.
In 1861, John McKinney and John
Wren, both Georgetown pioneers, established a hay ranch on
the summit of Burton’s Pass (on the El Dorado – Placer
County line.) In 1863, McKinney established McKinney’s
Retreat, which consisted of a log cabin, tents, a sapling
pier, and three fishing boats.
In
1864, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was built and became a favorite
stopping point for people traveling what would become the
Rubicon Trail. Today, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a popular place
for 4-wheelers and other Rubicon Trail visitors to stop and
rest.
In 1867, John and George
Hunsucker (miners from Kelsey, El Dorado County) felled pine
trees and built a cabin south of Rubicon Springs, bordering
the Rubicon River. Their cabin was at the foot of Rubicon’s
frowning Granite Gorge. Within the next decade, the
Hunsuckers added outlying shacks and a pine corral for their
stock at Rubicon Springs. The area was renowned for
excellent hunting. By 1869, McKinney’s Retreat comprised 160
acres (13 on Tahoe’s lakefront), catering to Nevada’s mining
personnel and their families.
In 1880, the Hunsuckers began
bottling spring water and selling it at Georgetown and
Hunters’ Retreat. The spring water became so popular, the
brothers had a difficult time meeting the demand. Health
seekers were beginning to arrive at Rubicon Springs, and
“Rubicon Water” was sold as a health-enhancing supplement.”
The 1880s marked the beginning of the Rubicon region’s
resort era.
In
1886, Mrs. Sierra Phillips Clark, locally known as “Vade,”
purchased the Rubicon Springs from the Hunsuckers and added
it to Potter’s Springs a mile away, founding the Rubicon
Soda Springs Resort. She convinced El Dorado County to make
the trail from Hunters’ Retreat (over Burton’s Pass) to
Rubicon Springs into a one-way road. The new road let Vade
build a 2.5-story hotel at the Springs, complete with
curtained glass
windows,
16 small rooms, and a parlor with horsehair furniture and a
foot-pedal organ. She used white linens and polished
silverware to serve three meals a day. On busy weekends,
visitors outnumbered the rooms available and slept in tents,
cabins, or under the stars. Vade also put into service a
four-horse, six-passenger coach to convey visitors to
McKinney’s Retreat. It took coach travelers 2.5 hours to
cover the nine miles between Rubicon Springs and McKinney’s
Retreat.
In 1888, General William Phipps
sold his Sugar Pine Point homestead to W.W. "Billy" Lapham,
who opened the Bellevue Resort. Rooms cost $2.50 per night.
Five years after opening the resort, a fire destroyed the
Bellevue. In 1897, Isaias W. Hellman, a San Francisco
financier, purchased the Bellevue property and, in 1901,
built a large mansion for use as a summer retreat.
In 1901, Vade Clark sold Rubicon
Springs to Daniel Abbott, who replaced the welcoming signs
with “Enter At Your Own Peril.” For the next four years,
Vade continued to operate the Springs under a lease from
Abbot.
In October 1908, flash floods
caused the Rubicon River to rise eight feet overnight, with
mud and water rushing through
the
Rubicon Springs barn and nearly ripping the hotel and
outbuildings off their foundations. It was also in 1908 that
the first car was driven into Rubicon Springs. The car,
driven from the Tahoe side by a woman, was apparently a
promotional event being used to publicize the Mitchell
automobile. The owner of the Rubicon Springs Hotel at that
time was a Mitchell automobile dealer.
In 1909, Ralph Colwell purchased
the Rubicon Springs Resort, adding this health resort to his
Moana Villa resort facilities. The Moana Villa was built in
1894 on Lake Tahoe, adjacent to McKinney’s Retreat. The
Moana resort comprised a 2 .5 story lodge, cottages, tents,
a clubhouse over the water, a 500-foot pier for steamer
landings, and a bathing house. Colwell and his three sons
ran both the Rubicon Springs and Moana Villa resorts.
The 1920s saw the beginnings of
development on the western shores of Lake Tahoe. The Rubicon
Springs road was being promoted as the best route from
Georgetown to Lake Tahoe. To encourage travel along the
route, a promotional automobile trip was organized, compete
with photographs in the local papers. The write-up included
mention of a survey party that would make plans for
improving the road.
Between 1922 and 1926, Rubicon
Springs began losing its appeal as a resort and was closed
in the latter part of the 1920s. Although the Rubicon
Springs Hotel stopped operation in the late 1920s, the
structure and several outbuildings were still standing into
the 1950s. The Wentworth Springs lodge/hotel, located on the
original road and near the start of the off-road section,
operated until the early 1960s.
History of the Rubicon Trail
In 1887, the El Dorado County
Board of Supervisors declared the trail (or highway) from
Wentworth Springs through Hunsucker Springs (Rubicon
Springs) a public highway. To ensure that the trail remained
open for public use, in 1991, the Board of Supervisors
reconfirmed the Rubicon Trail’s status as an unmaintained
County right-of-way.
From the 1880s into 1940s, the
Rubicon Trail was used to move cattle, sheep, and turkeys
from the western slopes of the Sierras to the Meeks Bay area
for summer grazing. It was also used to provide access to
the resorts located at Wentworth Springs, Rubicon Springs,
and the west shores of Lake Tahoe. Later residents of
California used the area for hunting and fishing, just as
the Maidu had hundreds of years before. Shortly after the
Eldorado National Forest was established, the U.S. Forest
Service prepared a map showing areas where various game and
fish species could be found.
In the 1920s, cars (Dodges and
Stars) could travel the route from Georgetown to Rubicon
Springs if they used “ropes and planks” to cross some of the
rougher spots. Car skeletons found along the trail in the
early days were said to be proof of the trail’s difficulty.
El Dorado County officials
eventually decided to develop the Rubicon Trail as an
improved route from Georgetown to Lake Tahoe. They rebuilt
the wooden bridge across the Rubicon River in 1939. In 1947,
the County ordered the construction of a steel bridge over
the River to replace the log bridge. The steel bridge was
constructed in Placerville and transported to the site. To
ensure that the various pieces of the bridge would not shift
on the trip to the bridge site, they were welded to the
frame of the truck. The bridge components were moved into
the area via Lake Tahoe and Rubicon Springs.
In
1952, several residents of Georgetown met to discuss the
possibility of hosting an organized Jeep tour from
Georgetown to Lake Tahoe via the Rubicon Trail. On August
29, 1953, 55 Jeeps with 155 participants left Georgetown on
a two-day trip that is now known as "Jeepers Jamboree 1."
Every year during the last weekend of July, 4-wheelers
follow the tradition of these “pioneers.”
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